Jonathan Nakhla’s guilty verdict will not be overturned nor will he be granted a new trial, a Mobile County Circuit Court judge ruled Tuesday.

Attorneys for the Mobile neurosurgeon, convicted in March of reckless murder in the 2020 death of University of South Alabama medical student Samantha Thomas, had filed a motion to have the conviction thrown out and/or a new trial ordered.

His attorneys claimed one of the jurors was not a resident of Mobile County for the requisite period of time.

Judge Wesley Pipes rejected that argument, accepting the testimony of the juror who had lived in Baldwin County, but moved back to her father’s house in Mobile County following a divorce several years ago.

Under state law, as it is in most states, jurors are required to reside in the county in which the trial on which they are serving is taking place for at least the prior 12 months.

Prosecutors, in their response to the defense motion, noted Nakhla’s attorneys had the opportunity to raise objection to the juror serving during the selection process as well as the trial, but did so only after their client was found guilty.

“I am pleased that Judge Pipes denied the motion for a new trial for Jonathan Nakhla,” said Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood. “Our assistant district attorneys, trial coordinators, investigators and many other members of the D.A. team worked tirelessly on this case that ultimately earned a unanimous guilty verdict.

“Jurors are a fundamental part of the judicial process and their service should be commended.”

Nakhla was found to have been impaired by several hours of drinking prior to the Aug. 1, 2020 crash. Nakhla, with Thomas as a passenger, was driving his Audi Spyder sports car south on the west Interstate 65 service road at an estimated 138 mph when it left the roadway, flipped several times and came to rest in a ditch.

Thomas, 24, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Facing a possible prison term of 20 to 99 years, Nakhla was sentenced to 25 years by Circuit Court Judge Ben Brooks.

Nakhla’s attorneys are expected to appeal the circuit court decision.